Peter's Blog

Inflation Makes Everybody Poorer (And It’s Government’s Fault)

The CPI fell modestly in July, but prices remained near 40-year highs at 8.5%. Meanwhile, President Biden did a victory lap, and Congress passed an “Inflation Reduction Act” that will only make inflation worse. It’s easy to look at inflation talk as political banter and wonky economic theorizing, but in fact, it hurts real people. […]

Ron Paul: The “Inflation Reduction Act” Is Another DC Lie

We get a lot of Orwellian spin out of Washington D.C. A recession isn’t a recession, Putin’s price hikes caused inflation, and now we’re told a massive spending bill will cure inflation. Last weekend, the Senate gave final approval to the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act.” Despite the catchy title, it is nothing but a tax-and-spend […]

Swedish Rent Control Exposes the Problem With Government Price Controls

Government price controls are a bad idea that just won’t go away. With prices skyrocketing, you’ll hear some people on the left argue that the US government should implement price controls. Meanwhile, President Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan would impose various price controls on prescription drugs.

Ron Paul: Everybody Is Feeling Inflation Pain, Even Penguins

Inflation is off the chain. The CPI rose by 9.2% on an annual basis in June. As Ron Paul explains, everybody is feeling the pain. Even penguins.

Big Government Help Isn’t Helping

Ronald Reagan once said the most terrifying nine words in the English language are, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” One of the biggest problems with government help is that it always comes at a cost. And the burden of that cost almost always falls on the very people that big government […]

Ron Paul: Fed Rate Increase too Little too Late

After a weak swipe at inflation at its May meeting, the Federal Reserve delivered the biggest rate hike since 1994 at its June FOMC gathering. But is it enough to tackle persistently red-hot inflation? Ron Paul doesn’t think so. He notes that the recent rate hikes have only raised rates to the level they were […]

Is Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s “Soft Landing” Even Possible?

After last week’s FOMC meeting, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell claimed that a “soft landing” was still possible. In other words, he thinks the central bank will be able to slay red-hot inflation without tipping the economy into a recession. Is this feasible? Or is it a fairytale?

The Fed: Totally Just Winging It

A 75 basis-point rate hike wasn’t even on the table a month ago. It appears that the central bankers over at the Fed were crawling around under the table because they found a 75-basis point rate hike. The Fed went big at the June FOMC meeting in response to hotter-than-expected May CPI data just a week […]

Ron Paul: Should We “Respect” the Fed?

The Federal Reserve doesn’t have a very good track record. It was wrong about transitory inflation. It was wrong about peak inflation. And it’s almost certainly wrong in thinking the economy is strong enough to withstand tighter monetary policy to fight inflation. But President Joe Biden trusts the Fed. The cornerstone of his inflation-fighting plan […]

Inflation Explained on a Napkin

People come up with all kinds of excuses for inflation. First, they told us there was no inflation. Then they insisted that it was transitory. Then they claimed it was caused by greedy corporations. Later they shifted the blame to Putin. But none of this gets to the root cause of inflation – the expansion […]